KuroYama - The nice guy and the trickery
by Haruko Saruwatari
Summary: Kuroo and Bokuto tricks Yamaguchi into thinking Bokuto is screwing Yamaguchi's crush, Tsukishima. Yamaguchi has a crush on Tsukki, and Kuroo sees their relationship as abusive and wants to take him away from him. The reality is that Bokuto decided to help Kuroo become better friends with the jumpserver Yamaguchi.
1. Chapter 1

"You either surrender to me or I'll take your precious Yamagutchi away from you. What do you choose?" Bokuto asked, eyes narrowed as he looked down on the freshman under his hands, holding him as a hostage, unable to flee. Tsukishima narrowed his eyes and threatened back. "I'll never allow you to touch him in any way, jackass." Bokuto smirks, tightening his grip around Tsukishima's wrists and rips the freshman's boxer off.  
"Oho? Already hard? That's mean, I haven't even done anything with you, Tsukki! Such a masochist you are~" he grinned, shaking his head like he was disappointed by the behaviour. Tsukishima clicked his tongue as he looked toward the wall with angrily clenched eyebrows.  
"I'm a teenager after all," he said with a dry voice.  
"Indeed you are," Bokuto let out, keeping himself from grinning too much. The flustered face of his underclassman was too precious and unnatural for him to let go of without further notice. He wanted to keep it as a memory. While the younger high schooler tried to keep himself composed, Bokuto fished up his phone from his shorts and turned on the camera. Tsukishima's eyes widened as he noticed the intentions, trying to move and avoid the lens. Bokuto had an iron-grip around his wrist and put his whole weight upon the stomach and hips. Taking a few shots, Bokuto grinned by the motives of blushing Tsukishima.  
"You know, we need to have at least a FEW evidences that even YOU can be cute!"  
"Go jump off a cliff and die," Kei muttered, pissed off as he couldn't do anything to prevent the paparazzi-like owl.  
"You know, I'm not the one you're hating on, right? If anything, Kuroo asked me to do this. Not that I mind tho!" Bokuto kept babbling as he prepared Kei, avoiding too big smirks for each time he heard the freshman pant or gasp. He really was a teenager, he thought.  
"K-Kuroo asked you to do this?" Kei asked, holding his voice down as he didn't want any of the other members to find him in such an embarrassing statement. They were alone in the dorms to Fukurodani as the other teams kept practicing on their own. Right now, Hinata and Kageyama would practice their quicks and Yamaguchi would practice on his serve.  
"If you don't want your precious friend to know about this, then shut up and let Kuroo do as he wants, oki?" Bokuto offered, and penetrated the blond with his whole length. A loud gasp escaped his mouth, completely regretting his decision to agree with the owl. He'd been ripped off.

"So, you're in love with the blond Tsukishima, am I right?" Kuroo asked, winking at Yamaguchi as they finished up their training, packing down the net and the balls. "Uhm, w-where have you heard that?" He stuttered, clearly blushing. "It's written all over your face, dude." Kuroo hummed. He knew the freshman was a completely innocent being, and he really thought he was cute. The freshman told him the truth since he thought he'd already been busted.  
"I guess you could say we're dating, you know?" He giggled, a small smile appeared at his face. Seemed like he was thinking of something nostalgic. Kuroo blushed by the scenery.  
"Dating? You two?" He asked, surprised.  
Yamaguchi turned to look at the elder with confused eyes.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well it certainly doesn't look like you two are dating, bro. More like a onesided crush. I'm being serious here, okay? To me, it looks like he cares as much about you as he cares about Hinata and Tanaka, right? For the record, has he ever told you he loves you? Have you done any lewd stuff yet?"  
Kuroo raised an eyebrow and seemed worried about the new discovery. Yamaguchi lost his optimism and confidence.  
"Do you think he likes someone else, Kuroo-senpai?" The elder nodded.  
"I've seen him being with Bokuto a lot these days, so it wouldn't surprise me if those two were screwing right now!" Tetsurou laughed at his own joke, glancing at his shorter enemy on the court. His eyes widened by the sight of the crying crow. Yamaguchi's eyes were wide open with thick, salty tears streaming down his face and pouting lips, trembling like he was close to falling apart on the spot. His eyebrows twitched in synch with his mouth. His thoughts were somewhere far away from reality, deep in thought and "what ifs". He must've been thinking worst-case scenarioes. His brown eyes would probably be unable to see anything in all the tears. It would be impossible for him to see Kuroo's big grin. Right?  
"Are you serious?" Yamaguchi whimpered.  
"Yeah, pretty much. Oy, Bokuto! Tsukishima, come here!" Kuroo placed a firm hand onto Yamaguchi's shoulder as comfort and waved the two guys toward them as they entered the gymnasium. Tsukishima narrowed his eyes and scowled at Nekoma's captain as he layed his hands upon HIS best friend. Yamaguchi dried his eyes and stared at Kei.  
The blond's hair was completely tousled like he'd just woken up, and he seemed to cover up his neck with the collar on the volleyball-shirt. Bokuto had a lewd facial expression as he walked behind Tsukishima, eyeing Kuroo.  
Yamaguchi walked up to Kei, standing up close in front of him without deviating his gaze. His eyes felt wet again, but he couldn't do anything about it. His lips trembled.  
"Is it true?" he asked, voice cracked.  
"Tsukki, have you two done it?!"  
Tsukishima opened his eyes wide as he stared into the eyes of his crush.  
"Is it that obvious?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and a surprised tone in his voice.  
His intentions was absolutely not to act that way. He lost his composition and coolness for just a moment. A small, critical moment.  
In that exact moment, he lost Yamaguchi's trust and Kuroo won.  
"It's true..?!" Yamaguchi whimpered, sudden tears began rolling, and he ran off outside. Tsukishima didn't get to say a word, just watching his closest friend run off in tears and his elders grinning behind him. Left behind by everyone else, he turned to kuroo and bokuto with fiery eyes.  
"What the HELL have you told him, motherfuckers?"

"Congrats, you've just fucked up everything by yourself, Tsukki!" Bokuto applaused and slapped him hard on his back. Tsukishima clicked his tongue and turned on his toes to run after his friend. Kuroo grabbed his wrist and dragged him back.  
"You really think he's gonna believe you in this situation? What are you gonna tell him? Think Tsukki, You're good at that." Kuroo tried to calm the blond down.  
"Let him be alone for now and cry it out." he said.  
The freshman stopped moving for a moment, took a deep breath and turned toward Kuroo. His eyes burned with desire to kill, his teeth clenched and his fist was ready to punch.  
"Hurting me won't get your precious back, Tsukki~" Kuroo commented as he avoided the attack by a millimeter margin.  
"Oho?" Bokuto added. In the corner of his eyes, he could see they were getting unwanted attention by the other teams and members. Walking up behind Tsukishima, he grabbed a hold around the boy and lifted him so he couldn't do any more damage.  
Bokuto shushed him with a ridiculously calm voice.  
"You really need more attention on your first time than you've already got?" Bokuto winked,and the boy stopped struggling.  
"Seriously? It was your first time?" Kuroo let his hand cover for his chesire cat-like grin. This was abolutely not good. The blond turned his face away from the captain with a big blush on his face.  
"I'm 16, what do you expect?" he mumbled.

...

"So this is were you hang for now?"  
Yamaguchi rose his head from his hands, surprised and scared by the sudden intruder. His vision wasn't exactly the best, but even though his eyes were red and dry from all the crying, he could glimpse the contour of a tall guy. He was partly disappointed and partly relieved that it wasn't Tsukishima that found him. Not really sure who it was, Yamaguchi didn't respond to the approach. Putting his head back down, the unknown person sat down beside him. Why? Surprised by the action, he rose his head again to look at the intruder. They both leaned their backs onto the fence surrounding their training camp. Nobody could see them from the slope they were placed upon, but they could see the whole gymnasium and dormitories. The only lightsource they had was the fullmoon with no skies. It was as clear as possible, but no stars. And Kuroo sat beside him.  
"How're you feeling?" he asked, not looking at him. The scenery seemed to be of his interest.  
"I've calmed down now, thank you.." he mumbled. It was partly true. He wasn't as upset now as he was back then, but he still had problems handling the truth.  
They stayed in silence for a minute, and Yamaguchi could feel the tears would spring up any minute now, if Kuroo said the right, or wrong, things. The elder placed a discreet hand on Yamaguchi's head, and offered him to place his head on his shoulder. He accepted.  
"Tsukishima is really abusive," he finally said. It wasn't a question, but an ascertainment.  
"But you still love him." Another ascertainment.  
"Or am I wrong?" he turned to face Yamaguchi, his eyes dead serious. Their noses were close, so close they slightly touched. Tadashi felt his face became steaming hot.  
"By now, I've thought he liked me.. But I might have just misunderstood because I was too close to him. Ahaha.." He felt the tears pushed on, felt the warm saltwater sift down his face, one drop by another. Kuroo felt his heart tighten.  
"Yamaguchi. I really don't like how you know he's abusing you, and still want to be with him. You deserve more than that, it's painfully obvious." Kuroo sighed.  
"A person falls in love with what it thinks it deserves," Yamaguchi added with a low voice. He tilted his head to the side with a sorry look on his face. "I know."  
Kuroo leaned forward and stopped in front of Yamaguchi's face, making their noses strike aganst each other.  
"I'll make you forget that angry lemon, Tadashi.." he whispered, and placed his lips upon the other's. Surprised by the sudden approach, Yamaguchi's heart jumped and fluttered as the lips didn't part at first. Kuroo's lips was soft and smooth, and it felt good to touch them. Yamaguchi's own lips was salty and cracked from the crying and lack of water, and he felt ashamed to have such lips placed upon Kuroo's. When he thought the captain was going to back off, he felt a sudden sadness gushing all over his body. He didn't want him to stop? Was he THAT lonely or just confused? Like a twitch, he pressed his lips against Kuroo's for a second as a last resort before he would back off from the embarrasment.  
But the elder didn't intend to back away.  
Kuroo stroke his fingers behind Tadashi's head, grabbing the dark green hairlocks as he pulled the boy closer to himself, pressing his lips against him. They tasted like strong mint.  
His stomach fluttered as Kuroo kept kissing, pushing forward and slide his tongue inside. With a yelp, Tadashi moved away but got caught by Kuroo's firm grasp. Their noses touched, their mouths moved away and back, painfully close to eachother. Their breaths were warm, heaving for air as they let go. Yamaguchi glanced up at Kuroo's eyes, and met the eyes of the captain looking straight at him. They shimmered in the moonlight with a serious touch.  
"Yamaguchi, you have no idea how much I want to make you mine and only mine." He placed his lips upon Yamguchi's again. The tickling in his stomach increased as Kuroo swirled his tongue inside his mouth, feeling his big hand press him closer to the kiss.  
"Please don't think of Kei for tonight, okay?" he whispered as they parted for air. His dark voice would make any guy tremble as they obeyed. Yamaguchi nodded in an instant, only thinking about the minty taste of Kuroo's tongue. Tsukishima..  
"Maybe I really AM better off without him.." Yamaguchi thought, letting his fantasies wander as Kuroo slipped his tongue inside again. The elder grabbed Yamaguchi's thights and flipped him onto his lap, holding tight around the tired muscles. Yamaguchi twiched as he got surprised by the sudden movement. His cheeks exploded with a heavy blush as he stared deep into Kuroo's eyes. The black eyebrows rose in a flirtous way as the mouth grinned before he booped his nose into Yamguchi's cold one.  
"You're so fricking adorable.." he whispered, gliding his fingers over Tadashi's cheeks, carressing the smooth childish skin. Tadashi giggled as he clenched his fist around Kuroo's shoulderparts of the jacket. His body shivered faintly, and the captain noticed.  
"You cold? Tell me!" he asked, raising his voice a bit, stripping off his black jacket and threw it around Yamguchi. The boy nodded a thank you, wiping a tear from his eye.  
"You're so nice, Kuroo-senpai.."


	2. I'm sorry Tsukki

Chapter 2

Dedicated to the person who absolutely detested my first chapter. If you don't like, then don't read.

"Tadashi," Tsukishima's low voice reached Yamaguchi. They were about to go to sleep, and were about to pull out of their shirts and pants. Those two were the only ones on the team that wore a shirt to sleep, but nobody seemed to care about it. Nishinoya and Hinata was already asleep, while Daichi and Suga was off somewhere, leaving the others for Asahi to manage. The poor goofball didn't know shit about managing youngsters, so he ended up tiring himself wilst running after Tanaka and Nishinoya the first hour. "To think those are older than us is a shame," Tsukishima had commented, only for Yamaguchi to hear.

The freckled boy turned to face his best friend, telling him to go on.

"I'm sorry about that earlier. They tricked us, and it hurt you. I should have run after you.." The blond seemed sorry for what happened. Normally, he'd throw a meaningless apology, but this time he seemed serious about it. Yamaguchi shook his head.

"It's okay, `Tsukki. Because of that, I got to talk to Nekoma's captain, and he apologized and all. He taught me some stuff too, and he's actually really nice! Did you know he-" Yamaguchi purposedly avoided the fact that he'd been making out with the captain, and made up the conversations so Tsukki wouldn't get angry. Tsukki stopped him with an angry look.

"Kuroo went to talk to you?"

"Well yeah, and he apologized to me and all-"

"He went after you and found you." Kei confronted.

"Yes, but if you-"

"Don't lie to me."

"W-what do you mean.."

"He sure as hell didn't just 'apologize'. Now tell me!"

Tsukishima's eyes narrowed, his lips tightened and looked like a streak. He was mad.

"What makes you think that?!" Yamaguchi raised his voice.

"Guys, shut up and sleep!" Asahi mumbled angrily as he tried to relax on the other side of the room. He was dead tired and didn't want a lover's quarrel. Kei glared at him before he rose from the floor and dragged Yamaguchi up too. His fingers were cold and long.

"Wh-where are we-" he tried, but the blond stared him down to silence and pulled him toward the corridor.

"We're stepping outside for a minute," he dropped to Asahi, who mumbled back.

"Tsukki, let's go back inside and just sleep, please? He just apologized to me!" Yamaguchi tried to convince his possessive friend to let him go and rest. Kei added a few coins to the closest vending machine and pushed the button for a coke. He was silent, not saying anything. "He must be raging," Tadashi tought. It gave him chills down his spine by just thinking about it, and he thought of all the things that tall person could do to him. All the hurtful things he could tell him. It reminded him of what Kuroo called them.

"A one-sided, abusive crush."

He shook the thought off, not wanting to think about it. Tsukki wouldn't hit him. Not now. Not over something trivial as this. This was just how Tsukki was, and sometimes, his way of interacting would just be too smart for himself.

"Let's start from the beginning," Kei suddenly said, startling Tadashi.

"As I've said already, he just came and apologized to me." he answered dry.

Kei quickly glanzed at his teammate and narrowed his eyes. The other tried to not be as intiminated by this as he actually was.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"Then explain the hickeys,"

"What?"

Tsukishima walked over to him and ripped off Yamaguchi's shirt, creating a big hole as he pulled it off him. The boy covered up his body as he felt uncomfortable in only his boxer.

"What the hell, Tsukki?!" he yelled and grabbed for the shirt. The icecold expression on Kei's face froze him in an instant, and he apologized. The blond was dead serious now, and it scared him. Tadashi's skin was darker than Tsukishima's and the dark freckles seemed to have increased in amount. On his thin neck, there wasn't one hickey.

There were three.

Three dark purple hickeys.

Kei clicked his tongue and looked at him with disgust. He stepped back two steps and let go of the shirt. His face had disgust written all over it, and a scary aura seemed to appear from deep inside of him. Then he just stood there, just glaring at him deep into his soul. Yamaguchi didn't know if he was supposed to go slow or quickly grab the shirt, so he just sat on the bench, staring at his scary bestfriend. A minute passed, and he felt like crying. His mouth twitched, and his eyes felt like they were about to wash out all the saltwater at once. Tsukhishima gave in and drank a zip from the can he bought, walked over to Yamaguchi and put the can down on the bench without a word. With his slender finger, he signalized Yamaguchi to stand up. Trembling, he obeyed. On his shaky legs whom supported him, he was only centimeters away from Tsukishima. The blond didn't put any distance between them, and he knew that if he did it himself, he'd get yelled at. Their noses were close to touch, but they didn't. He coulnd't even feel his friend's breath. It was like he didn't breath, or he held it in to create this uncertain feeling. The golden, brown colour of the eyes stared him down into an abyss, making Yamaguchi feel like the deepest trash ever. He felt like the lowest in the world. How could these eyes make him feel that way?

With no further notice, Tsukishim raised his hand before it vanished in a secound.

A yelling sound of a slap, shrilling down the corridor as an echo.

The sound screamed in Yamaguchi's ear as it hit.

His chin felt like it was on fire.

Not a single word.

Not ONE sound.

Nothing escaped the freckled boy's mouth.

Nothing.

"Garbage," the tall clicked his tongue, wrinkling his nose in disgust before he went back to the room, leaving the shorter one behind.

He was silent, only feeling his bare feet getting numb and the burning mark on his chin. His body was stiff, like he was paralyzed, which he probably was. Small tears escaped his eyes, falling down the damaged skin, and he could feel the salt as they dropped on his lips. His shoulders trembled, and his hands didn't react to his wishes.

"Yes," he whispered, lowering his eyes. A late apology to Tsukki.

"I'm sorry, Tsukki. I'm so very sorry for making you hit me."


	3. Chapter 3

Kuroo could only watch.

Only watch what happened in front of him, with no way to interfere. His body was paralyzed, his blood boiled and he was on fire. His heart got wrecked as he understood, and his ears wished they'd never heard such a slap. He wished for two things: To never have seen it, and stopped it.

As he had walked over to Karasuno's sleepover in the distant classrooms to talk to Daichi about something and hopefully get to talk to Tadashi, he almost stumbled upon Tsukishima and Yamaguchi by the vending machine.

Like a cat, he jumped and hid by reflex. Good thing he was light on his feet. Their conversation had just began, and he could tell that Tsukki wasn't happy about his little scheme. What surprised him the most, was his small use of words.

They were bad. And way to short.

Was he that upset about it?

"Explain the hickeys then," Kuroo's ears sharpened by the mentioning of the marks.

Shit, he'd left hickeys on Yamaguchi? That wasn't on purpose, it was something he usually did without thinking! A scream of cloth being ripped apart startled him.

"WHAT THE HELL, TSUKKI!?" Yamaguchi's voice cracked, trying to be mad but failed miserably.

Kuroo snuck a peek from the corner he'd placed himself in, and stared at the almost naked boy on the other side of the room. Tsukishima held the shirt in one arm, not moving one inch. Neither did Yamaguchi.

Kuroo wanted to storm in, hit Tsukishima so hard he'd collapse and save the freckled boy. His hands ached to hit and choke on another being, his teeth clenched so hard he felt the metallic saltness in his mouth. His feet wanted to move, but he couldn't. For some reason, his body wanted to watch.

His brain wanted this to take another turn.

He didn't want this to be reality. Yamaguchi's sad face. He didn't want that reality.

He wanted the one were Yamaguchi were happy. Without Tsukishima. Without being hurt or used or kicked on. He wanted to get rid of the blond.

Yamaguchi's face was full of shame and regret, seeming to fall apart any moment. His lips trembled and his eyes practically screamed of fear.

"A one-sided, abusive crush"

Kuroo was right all along.

Tsukishima really was an abusive asshole.

«Okay everyone, let's start practice!» The teachers began shouting orders to their still sleepy students, only getting gaping and snorts as answers back. Tsukishima seemed grumpier than before, and made sure to stay away from Yamaguchi, even if it meant to get comments and questions from everyone on their team.

That meant Suga, Daichi and Asahi.

Yamaguchi tried not to let it get to him, and obeyed the taller teammate's decision in not making contact with him. Daichi patted the blond on his back and lowered his voice.

«What happened yesterday, Kei?» Tsukishima shook his head and looked at his captain with raised eyebrows.

«Nothing has happened at all, Daichi-san. Where did you get that from?» Kei's face revealed his obvious lie, and a smirk happened to cross his face. Daichi didn't ask anymore.

Whenever that face appeared, he'd get nothing out of the boy.

«Stubborn arrogant child,» Daichi whispered as he passed Suga, before yelling to start the game.

Yamaguchi clenched his fist, trying to stop shivering as they lined up for their first match of the day.

At the other side of Karasuno's lineup, Tsukki had placed himself the furthest away from him. He was avoiding him by all costs, only to show his anger towards Yamaguchi.

Whenever Yamaguchi tried to make eye contact, Tsukki refused completely, brushing him off his life like an annoying bug.

That really hurt, but who could he blame?

"Bro, have you seen Tsukki the mad today? He's not in a good mood I can tell ya!" Bokuto jumped into a conversation with Kuroo in between their matches. Sucking in all the water he could from his drinking bottle, the gray owl kept talking after the sip while Kuroo drank his own bottle in silence.

"Oh and did you see Yamaguchi's chin? I can almost guess how he got that mark, can't you too?"

The owl lowered his voice more than Kuroo expected, and hurried to move his head closer to his best bro. He knew too well what he was referring to.

The ball in Kuroo's stomach did not leave.

"Bro, it's our fault he has it.."

Bokuto looked at Kuroo with forced calmed eyes, pulling his brows together and closed mouth. He was waiting for Kuroo to come up with a plan. Like he always did.

Kuroo looked at his friend with a glum expression. Of course he knew it was their fault! He even witnessed the incident last night, why didn't bokuto understand?

But then again, what could they do?

This was not something they should not interfere with, but the way everything went yesterday, they had to do something. Even though they could apologize, it wouldn't be enough, not now that he was the reason Kei was being so cold toward Tadashi..

To know Tadashi was suffering this much from his little scheme..

He had to save the boy.

"Tadashi!"

Yamaguchi jumped as someone shouted behind him, feeling his heart stopped. It was beating too fast for it's own good, and no calming words could help it slow down now.

"Calm down, calm down.." he whispered, forgetting the other person for a second.

"Ah!"

"Why aren't you answering me when I call, damnit?"

A cold box of soda touched Yamaguchi's face, making him shudder by the contact. A small sound escaped his mouth, making him blush by the sensitive yelp.

Kuroo smirked by the cute response.

"I'm sorry, I just.. got caught up in something." Yamaguchi smiled weakly as he looked up to his black haired friend. At least he could get some help from Kuroo. He was basically fine with everyone but Kei at the moment, so it was a relieve at the same time as a disappointment.

He wished for Kei to talk to him again.

"Tsukki has been avoiding you, right? It's pretty obvious, when you think about it.."

Kuroo hit the spot. The sensitive spot that had been nagging Tadashi since last night.

"Can you guess why?" he asked dryly. His eyes fixated on the ground before him, sitting in the same position as when Kuroo found him in the park during lunch break.

Yamaguchi's food was still untouched.

They kept silent for a while.

"You know, it's weird."

"What is?"

"I like you"

Yamaguchi looked up at Kuroo.

"Ha?" His face beamed with a strong blush and confusion by the sudden approach.

"Wait you didn't realize?" Kuroo tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. Yamaguchi shook his head. Then his eyes widened.

"Oh," he said.

"Oh yeah," Kuroo confirmed.

Yamaguchi, still looking at the ground in confusion, fiddled with his fingers in plain nervousness. His cheeks beamed with a colour as red as a golden sunset, and Kuroo couldn't think of anything cuter than this.

The realization of a confession.

The lips which belonged to Yamaguchi seemed to long for something to calm them down, sending an intruiging bite onto the lower lip as his mind went somewhere off.

Yamaguchi's eyelashes were so long..

Kuroo couldn't hold it in much longer.


	4. Chapter 4

The bell rang with a distant roar, making the harsh reality to open up again.

Kuroo stopped his hand from moving toward Yamaguchi's face, amazed by the blushing first-year he'd encountered with. Tadashi's eyelashes were too long..

When the bell stopped, the silence took over again. No crows or cats were fighting now that the sun was setting, filling the skies with warm and nostalgic colours.

The hall they sat alone in lightened up with the orange sunset, leaving a sommer-like feeling inside both themselves and the athmosphere.

Kuroo felt his cheeks grew more and more red, feeling the warmth from the blood gushing into his upper body as he too realized what his words actually meant.

His eyes fixated on the only thing in front of him; one of the further buildings with classrooms only used by Karasuno.

He was too scared to even catch a glance of the younger boy. His fingers moved nervously in circles between his legs, trying his best to not start shaking his legs too. It would seem like too much.

No, just moving your hands are too much, he shouted to himself. He wanted to shake his head for his stupidity, but if he did now, Yamaguchi would think he was stupid or mental..

What was it that bell that rang for again?

Kuroo tried his best to remember what that bell meant again, without making Tadashi assuming he wanted to get away or think it was awkward between them.

Heck, why was it awkward again?

He could hear Yamaguchi's breathing. It was irregular and loud, as if he hyperventilated. As he quickly glanced down, Kuroo felt his heart flutter by the sight.

Yamaguchi's cheeks were flaming red and hot, his ears and neck glowing as if someone'd rubbed them for hours. His hands figgeted with the canned soda he'd received, nervously spinning it around in his palms.

His eyelashed spread like he'd used hours on curling them.

Never had Kuroo seen the boy up close in this condition. The young boy sighed as he lowered his head.

"Like, huh..?"

Somehow, the air changed.

The orange sunset wasn't as orange as it first shone.

Yamaguchi stopped fidgeting with the can for a moment, like he was hesitating for a minute.

Kuroo held his breath and closed his eyes.

A soft head placed itself perfectly on his shoulder.

The head said nothing, just laid there, feeling the support of the upperclassman's shoulder.

The warm breeze of summer appeared in between the oak trees in the park outside the buildings.

Kuroo felt his heart lightened up a bit. So he hadn't done anything totally horrible yet..

That was, yet.

Memories of their meeting at the slope the other day, flushed into Kuroo's memory again. His cheeks warmed up again, and a small grin appeared at his face. But it quickly vanished.

Everything had started with his stupid trick, his scheme to play both Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

Because of him, Tadashi'd been hurt. He'd worsened his relationship with an already violent person.

Kuroo felt his chest clench, feeling it tighten as he thought about the outcome of his actions.

His grin had vanished, and regret was written on his face.

But did it really matter now?

He'd taken a step toward Yamaguchi, this adorable person, and he wanted to make him happy. Make a world for him where nobody would hurt him.

A quick glance down on the first-year made him remember.

He was head over heels over this boy.

And nobody would have the power to destroy him as long as he protected him.

In the distance, the two teens would hear noises. Talking and clattering, probably plates and forks and chopsticks being passed around, and footsteps.

Kuroo napped his phone from his jacket and checked the time.

It was dinner time.

There were no signs of the students yet, meaning they were all focusing on eating for the moment. Kuroo let out a relieved sigh, and checked his phone for messages. There was one from Bokuto.

"Gotta stay tuned on this dude~! Tsukki is an angry lemon as always, but he doesn't seem interested in killing us, at least for now! Atm talking to Akaashi about something, I'm not allowed to hear (TT^TT)"

"So he's not angry anymore..?"

Kuroo looked down to see Yamaguchi reading the message on his phone, feeling the boy faintly shiver as he nudged his head closer to Kuroo. The faint smell of sweat and sitrus-scented shampoo tickled Kuroo's nose pleasantly.

"He doesn't seem like it, no. But you know better than anyone how much he can suppress.."

Kuroo let his left hand run through the silk-soft, green hair, fiddling with the split ends. It felt so good to touch his hair. The young boy moved closer to Kuroo.

"You're cold again," Kuroo said. His let out a sigh and smiled vacantly as he took off his own jacket and threw it over Yamaguchi.

The younger boy let out a silent "thank you".

They kept their position in silence.

Kuroo looked at their surroundings; at the totally untouched lunchbox a few meters from them, the unopened waterbottle thrown far away from them, the volleyball lying under the tree behind them, generally the park they sat in, the school buildings surrounding them, and the skies.

The non-existing skies, with the non-existing stars.

Practice that day had ended two hours ago, meaning Yamaguchi had been practicing alone in the park, unnoticed by both students and teachers.

But he hadn't eaten. Nor been drinking.

Only practicing.

"You're working so hard.." Kuroo whispered.

"You're working so hard, and yet.."

"Kuroo?" Yamaguchi raised his head to look at the older student, confused by his sentences. He tilted his head to the side, raising his eyebrows with a worried look on his face.

Kuroo looked down on him, leaning down to make their noses touch. Yamaguchi's nose was cold.

The brown eyes of the precious really did seem like they worried about him. Kuroo let out a slight snort, grinning helpessly by the sight of this astonishing being.

The freckles on the light skin looked like dark stars.

Kuroo felt his eyesight became blurry.

"You're really working so hard, it's devastating to watch you fail.."

His eyes didn't listen to his plea. He didn't want to cry in front of him, not when they knew Yamaguchi should be the one crying.

"I love you too much to let you fall," Kuroo confessed, stroking his nose towards Tadashi's, kissing him lightly on his cheeks, like he was made of porcelaine.

His lips were soft, and he felt a faint saltyness from the freckled boy's skin.

Damn, he could probably lose it any moment now, Kuroo thought. His own restrainment.

Yamaguchi made no sound as Kuroo placed light kisses on his cheeks. He held tight around the sophomore, his brown eyes closed, his lips halfway parted. Kuroo placed a wet pair of lips upon the freshman's, and felt the crack and saltyness from the lips linger when they parted again.

Their hearts raced, and their flustered faces really gave eachother sparks, driving their motivation even further.

Kuroo felt a thin stripe appear by his eye, tracing down his collarbone and down his cheek, leaving a cold path of tears.

Tadashi pulled away, shoving gently and politely away in silence. He didn't say anything, just sat there in silence for a moment, as if he was thinking over something.

Kuroo felt his heart beat like crazy.

Did he do anything wrong? Was it the wrong timing? Did he go too far? Was it the wrong action? Should he have done something else?

Yamaguchi rose from the bench they sat on, avoiding eye-contact, and stood there for a solid ten seconds. His face showed no facial expression. Kuroo didn't know what to say or do.

Then the boy turned his back on Kuroo.

Yamaguchi slowly took a step forward, away from Kuroo. Then another. He walked over to the unopened lunchbox, and picked it up. His fingers traced the box before he picked it up with both hands, using light movements. He walked slowly over the field of grass, toward the bushes where the bottle was thrown away. The waterbottle got retrieved too.

When he turned toward the volleyball, he walked slowly and slightly unsteady.

Even though he tried to hide his face, Kuroo could clearly see.

The boy was crying.


End file.
